He Gave Me Strength

Everything was bleak after he left. Everything I looked at, though it was brightly colored, looked to me as though it were a dull gray. My world was turned upside down after he left me by the gates. He promised me he'd come back for me…and I waited and waited for six years for him to come back to me.

And now, just like on the day he left, it is raining. And all the while, bringing back the painful memory of watching him leave without me. Leaving me behind, to watch his back yet again. It seems no matter how much hope for his return, the heavens seem to cry for me. Since he let, the village has never been the same. Dull, just like it was before I met him, met my love, my Naruto.

(Flashback)

My face was emotionless as he said his good-byes to everyone. He looked so strong, so brave, so confident. Even if my face betrayed no emotion, my heart was tearing up inside. I wanted to cry, to fall into his arms, embrace him and never let him go. He was my best friend, in my eyes, my only true friend. He was…well, he was me in a sense.

He turned to me, looking ever so wonderful and proud. I turned my eyes to the ground, I couldn't look into those eyes of his, the eyes that have always captivated me, drowned me. Even if I never showed it, even when I obsessed over Sasuke…

"Sakura-chan…" He called my name with the up most love that made my eyes water. A gentle finger lifted my chin so I had no other choice than to look in his eyes. I drowned yet again in his blue, blue eyes. I bit my bottom lip to keep it from mouthing those words that would come out. To keep the tears in my eyes that threatened to fall, in place. It was so hard. It huts so much.

"Naruto…-kun…" I didn't stop myself from that suffix that should have always been there.

The tears that built up in my eyes fell. He pulled me into a tight embrace, digging his face into my shoulder. A new wave of tears built up and stung my eyes. Sobs slipped through my lips, muttering the words 'don't go,' with them. My heart hurt so much that day. Wetness from someone else's tears made their way through my red sleeveless shirt. They belonged to Naruto.

"Please don't go Naruto-kun…don't go…" I collapsed fully into his chest as more sobs racked my body. "I love you…" The words finally made their escape.

His body stiffened as he pulled away. His face was shock-stricken. Tears built up in his eyes as he threw his arms around my body. "I'm sorry…Sakura-chan…I have to go." He tightened his hold on me. He pulled me away at arms length, his face filled with sorrow.

I wanted him to smile, I wanted him to say he loved me too…like he used to. His hands that once resided on my shoulders, fell to his sides. "Sakura…-chan…I have to go now. I promise you, I will come back…nothing can keep me away from the place where I will be future hokage."

"Naruto-kun…I'll wait for you…okay..?" I lowered my gaze to the ground, he still didn't tell me he loved me too. My heart shattered as another one of my boys left me again…

(End of Flashback)

I…I still wait for my foxy, even if he never said he still loved me. The rain still hasn't subsided.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

My face snapped to the door of my lonely apartment. My hand snapped to the pouch that held my kunai and shuriken. As a ninja, that is my automatic reflex. I found a kunai, gripped it in my hand, and answered the door. Outside, there was Tsunade-shishou. Eyes swollen and red, she delivered the news that shattered my hope and the rest of my heart. I fell to my knees, my face in my hands, wrenching into them.

"Nonononono! No! He can't…" the rest of my sentence was overcome by cries. My body broke down, my heart was no longer there, my life…was gone. My hopes were shattered and broken. My eyes blurred and burned at the sensation of tears.

" Naruto…he was…he was found…" Tsunade-shishou'svoice cracked, her body trembling with sadness, tears staining her face. "Sakura…he's dead…"

Everything became dark and eerie. I felt I was being suffocated and dying…and yet fully peaceful. A warmth surrounded me…it-it felt like the arms of my beloved…my Naruto-kun. Everything became warm and glowed in an illuminating gold. The first thing I saw though, was blue eyes and blond spiky hair.

'Naru…to…-kun…' My eyes filled with more tears…but these were a new kind of tears, tears of joy.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto-kun was wearing his foxy grin that I was so familiar with. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before I left, it was too hard to…but Sakura-chan…I love you too!" My beloved put a hand to the back of his head. He chuckled, then became more serious. "Sakura-chan, when I leave you here, promise me…promise me you'll be happy. Sakura-chan, you can't let this keep you down, I don't want you to be sad for me, love me and honor me by being happy and living a full and bountiful life."

"You promised me you'd come back…that you couldn't stay away from here…I want to come with you this time, I couldn't bear it if you left me alone again…" I threw my arms around his neck. He engulfed me with his arms, letting me cry into his shirt.

He pulled me away enough just to look into my eyes. He lowered his face to mine and gave me a kiss that expressed something beyond love. "Sakura-chan…I love you, you'll see me again, I'll come to you again any time you need me."

"But I need you every moment of everyday! I love you too…I always will, please don't leave me…don't leave me again…" Fresh tears cascaded down my face. He took my hand…keeping it safe within the confines of his own.

"No, I'll never leave you, I'll always be with you, even if you can't see me, you can have necklace that Tsunade-baa-chan gave me when I mastered the rasengan. Hey…I have to leave now, don't worry, when you're with me in a hundred years, we can be together always. Remember, you'll always have a piece of me. And know, I'll always love you, Believe it!" Naruto-kun even threw in his childhood phrase.

"Naruto-kun…Wait for me this time okay?"

"Always…" He gave me one last kiss and a squeeze of my hand before he faded, and all of the light with him…

'Naruto-kun…I love you…' My body snapped into consciousness, it snapped into a room with annoying beeping and bland white walls. I felt something clenched into my hands. It was his necklace. I smiled to myself as I began to fall into unconsciousness yet again. My last thought remained on 'my Naruto-kun…'